Odds of MLB's Top 15 September Call-Ups Eventually Becoming All-Stars

With the month of September comes an influx of young talent into Major League Baseball, with rosters expanding and teams making their yearly wave of call-ups.

Generally, these call-ups consist of minor league veterans who are on the 40-man roster and will simply serve as bench and bullpen depth while auditioning for a roster spot next season.

However, mixed in among these role players there are always a handful of top prospects who see their first taste of big league action during September. Case in point: Rangers top prospect Jurickson Profar made his big league debut as a 19-year-old and homered in his first at-bat.

So here is a quick look at the 15 top September call-ups. Also included is my take on the odds that they will emerge as MLB All-Stars at some point during their big league careers.

3B/UT Alex Liddi, Seattle Mariners

Liddi crushed Triple-A pitching in 2011 when he tallied 30 home runs and 104 RBI, but he struck out a ton (170 times in 559 at-bats) and played subpar defense at third base. That was enough to keep him out of the top-prospect picture despite his offensive breakout.

With a .370 average and 11 RBI, he played his way onto the big league roster this spring but played in just 31 games before being sent back down. Since then, Kyle Seager has established himself as the everyday third baseman, so Liddi will need to find a different position to see everyday at-bats.

Still, there is no looking past the power potential, and an offensively-starved team like the Mariners will find a way to get him at-bats if he produces.

RHP Jenrry Mejia, New York Mets

Rushed to the majors as a reliever back in 2010, Mejia was injured the following year with a torn MCL and missed most of the 2011 campaign as a result.

After opening the year in the low minors, he moved quickly back to Triple-A, and the 22-year-old appears to be back on track in his climb towards a regular big league roster spot. However, it is looking more and more like that spot could be in the bullpen.

A 21-year-old Venezuela native, Garcia is a big, strong guy who has a nice mix of power and speed at this early stage of his career. He's advanced faster than expected after spending parts of each of the past two seasons in High Single-A.

In the end, whether he can be a successful big league regular is going to come down to whether he can improve his plate discipline. He has 451 strikeouts to just 79 walks in five minor league seasons, and he drew just 18 walks in 513 plate appearances this season.

RHP Adam Warren, New York Yankees

While he has never received the hype that guys like Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos have, Warren has pitched well every step of the way since being taken in the fourth round of the 2009 draft.

His future is not at the front of the Yankees rotation, but he's a workhorse with passable stuff. With the New York offense behind him, he could put together a nice career if he can secure a rotation spot.

Thornburg entered the season as a relatively unheralded prospect, having never pitched above High Single-A, but he opened some eyes by going 8-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 13 Double-A starts. That earned him a spot at No. 48 on Baseball America's Midseason Top 50 prospects list.

The 23-year-old doesn't have ace potential, but he should settle in as a solid middle-of-the-rotation guy for the Brewers and will likely be in the running for a rotation spot next season.

3B Matt Dominguez, Houston Astros

Still only 23, Dominguez has twice appeared on the Baseball America Top 100 list, but a lack of offensive development in the high minors has taken him out of the picture of late.

That said, he does have average offensive skills and could be a solid run producer in the bottom half of the Astros lineup. One thing is for sure, he can certainly field his position, as he'll immediately become a Gold Glove candidate at third base if he can secure an everyday job. And with how thin the third base position is, he could make one or two All-Star games with a productive first half.

RHP Wily Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers

Peralta has slowly made his way through the Brewers farm system since joining them as a 17-year-old back in 2006. After a strong 2011 season, he entered the year ranked as the No. 56 prospect in baseball.

He'll slide into the team's starting rotation for the stretch run with Mark Rogers being shut down for the rest of the year, and he has a great shot at winning a starting gig in 2012.

A 19th-round pick out of the University of Miami (Ohio) back in 2010, Eaton has dominated at every level so far. In three minor league seasons, he's hit .355/.456/.523 with 98 stolen bases.

With Jason Kubel under contract through next season, he could be without a starting job in the big leagues again next season. Once Kubel is gone, though, expect Gerardo Parra to shift back to left field and Eaton to be the team's everyday center fielder and leadoff hitter.

RHP Jeurys Familia, New York Mets

After a rough 2010 season, Familia bounced back nicely in 2011 to establish himself as one of the Mets' top pitching prospects and a future impact arm alongside the likes of Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey and Jenrry Mejia in a deep, young Mets rotation.

He's not as polished a product as Wheeler and Harvey, but he is a big, durable guy who should be able to eat innings and rack up strikeouts with a high-90s fastball. His control needs work, though, and his slider needs fine-tuning if it is to be a legitimate out pitch.

LHP Martin Perez, Texas Rangers

Still only 21 years old, Perez has been on the fast track to the majors since signing with the Rangers at the age of 17.

He'll serve as a left-handed arm out of the bullpen for the stretch run, but with Ryan Dempster gone at the end of the season and Scott Feldman a question mark moving forward, he should have a chance to win a rotation spot next season.

LHP Tony Cingrani, Cincinnati Reds

A third-round pick out of Rice University in 2011, Cingrani entered the season having never seen action above Rookie League ball.

After 10 dominant starts at High Single-A he was promoted to Double-A, where he has continued to put up impressive stats across the board. The 23-year-old is one of just three left-handers in the Reds bullpen right now; he could see significant action down the stretch before vying for a rotation spot next year.

RHP Julio Teheran, Atlanta Braves

Teheran entered the season as the No. 5 prospect in all of baseball, coming off of a dominant season at Triple-A in which he went 15-3 with a 2.55 ERA.

Expected to contend for a rotation spot this spring, Teheran instead wound up back in Triple-A, and he has struggled to regain the form he showed last year. However, he's still only 21, and the potential is undoubtedly there.

RHP Shelby Miller, St. Louis Cardinals

Miller owned Double-A pitching as a 20-year-old last season, and he entered the year as one of the game's top pitching prospects in Triple-A.

He struggled early but has turned things around in the second half and is once again pitching like a future ace. He's could make a big impact as a reliever down the stretch before competing for a rotation spot next spring.

SS Jurickson Profar, Texas Rangers

The fact that the 19-year-old Profar was called up at all was a bit of surprise, and he debuted with a bang as he homered in his first big league at-bat.

Where exactly he figures into the Rangers' future plans—whether it is at his natural shortstop position with Elvis Andrus sliding over the second, or at second base with Ian Kinsler moving elsewhere—he's got as high a ceiling as any prospect in baseball and has only scratched the surface of his potential at this point.